Owning a franchise can be an endeavor that is only taken on by a few because there are so many responsibilities that has to be considered. On the one hand the franchise owner is responsible for all aspects of the business franchise, which could be considered a good thing, but on the other hand he is also responsible for personally financing the whole franchise business in the first place. There is definitely no way around the personal and financial commitments that a franchise owner must make.
To a lot of people all of this hard work just does not pay off in the end! For this reason there are plenty of folks who actually decide not to own a franchise in the end, but they rely on another technique to acquire the franchise that they want:
The Franchise Partnership
As mentioned, owning a franchise takes a great deal of financial equity and responsibility. This is something that many people are ill-equipped to handle even though they may want to own the franchise all they want! On the other hand, a franchise partnership may be just the option that they are looking for. As in any partnership, a franchise partnership relies on both people being involved in the business. One party makes half of the financial commitment while the other party makes the other half. Of course there could be various other business agreements as well, such as one party may make the sole financial commitment to purchasing the franchise in exchange for the majority of the profits for a time.
Franchise partnerships can be a great way to getting around owning a whole franchise by yourself and it definitely allows one to have greater freedom and relaxation in the things that are done. For example, instead of having to hire everyone by yourself in order to run the franchise then your partner will be equally as responsible for helping to hire managers, assistant managers, and other employees.
On the flip side, though, as quickly as a franchise partnership is made it can also be destroyed. If you have ever heard the saying that it only takes "one bad apple to spoil the batch" then this is definitely true here. Even though one person of the franchise partnership may be in the business for real and conduct him or her self in an honest way, there are plenty of other individuals who may just be interested in making a quick buck and then pulling out! This can be especially disconcerting if the person who ends up negating the contract was the one to have the least amount of financial obligations toward the franchise business.
All things considered, though, franchise businesses are a perfect opportunity for anyone who doesn't want to own a whole business by himself. These opportunities provide an excellent way for two or more people to be involved so that the responsibilities and obligations, financial or otherwise, don't all rest on one pair of shoulders or in one single back account!
December 22, 2008
- Alternatives to Owning a Franchise
December 16, 2008
- A Matter of Senses
Think of your brand in terms of what the customer gains when it is viewed by each of his or her five senses-hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and touching. In a nutshell your brand is the result of everything your prospects senses can pick up on about you.
It's the image you present at all times. From the company's logo and color scheme all the way to the manner in which your employees dress. Think of what your colors portray. Are they giving the message you want to give?
It's what your prospects hear from and about you. From what they hear about you in the media to how your customer service team handles incoming complaints. Are former customers likely to speak kindly about you? Are you and your employees pleasant when you speak?
It's the feeling your prospect gets in all their dealings with you. From their satisfied or unsatisfied interaction with you to the relationship building activities you carry out. Do customers and prospective customers feel they can trust you? Do they feel your honesty?
It's the pleasant or unpleasant scents that get associated with you covering everywhere from the scent of your product or facility, to even your employees. Do customers get a scent of cleanliness?
And lastly it's also the tastes that get associated with you. From the taste of your product (if it's a product meant to be tasted) to the quality of coffee or tea you serve.
Your brand encompasses everything about you. Hence you can see why it's important to always put your best foot forward. Bottom line, branding is essential to establishing your identity in the marketplace and consistency is the key to effective doing that. Take time to examine with your senses what message you are giving your customers.
December 15, 2008
- Promoting Your Brand
Remember the importance of branding. If you haven't already initiated a brand for your company, now might be just the time. Use these simple techniques in the promotion of your special brand
Make your brand as unique as possible. Catch the eye of the public by creating something different- something that people have not yet seen. Instead of doing what has already been done, go the opposite direction and be creative. Don't forget the legal dangers of copyright infringement related to borrowing or stealing from another firm's design.
Display stability. Take time in the development process to establish your brand and accomplish the look you really want. It's better to spend sufficient time in the beginning fine-tuning your design to the desired outcome, rather than to play with it after it's been revealed to the public. Changing your brand, and all that's involved with it, including colors, slogans, logos, and tag lines, doesn't support an image of reliability and long-lastingness
Stability should be maintained with branding. If you have integrated a brand into your company's marketing, then use it all over the place. It should appear on all of your marketing materials, business cards, web site, and printed items. The same is true for your packaging. Your brand should appear on all of your products. .
Give your brand away to the public with diverse promotional products. You can help your brand to saturate the consumer population by handing out precious, yet low-cost, items. Promotional products encourage possible customers to keep in mind your brand and your gift every time they are used. Consider useful devices such as letter openers, flashlights, first aid kits, and CD cases.
Brands are an extremely effective marketing tool. When working with your concept, consider the above to ensure the development of an effective brand.
- How to Sell With Branding
When you think of the Coca Cola brand, what comes to mind? Does an image of a red can with words Coca Cola written in white display in your mind's eye, or perhaps a coke bottle? Likewise we must pick our niche on the internet and brand our name accordingly. Be known for doing good in 1 area before moving on to the next project.
Here are the things we need:
1) A website that belongs to you.
2) Auto Responder and Opt In box. Your visitors will most likely not make a purchase on the 1st attempt and when they leave your site, you will not see them again. So do capture your visitors details with an auto responder opt in box and follow up with a series of emails. Follow up emails reinforces your brand name in the mind of your readers. Respectful persistence wins sales.
3) Photograph & Signature. Scan a groomed, smiling photo of yourself and your a penned signature. This adds that personal touch to let your audience know you are a real person.
4) Audio. Do you have a nice speaking voice? If so, combine this with your photograph and signature to humanize your website and establish rapport with your audience.
5) Blog. A blog can be an add-on to your main website or be used as a free alternative to a website, at least until you are generating profits. You can combine every aspect of name branding mentioned in the above points into your free blog. Update your blog at regular consistent intervals with content specific to your vision. Refrain from writing about off topic content so as to keep your message and theme consistent. One way to keep your readers posted about your content is to use RSS feeds.
6) A Domain name. You can register a domain name and forward it to point at your Blog. Use the domain masking feature that allows your website to have a professional look.
- Personal Branding for Success
One important part of branding is the image you yourself portray. Developing a likeable personal brand is essential for succeeding. If you want to rise to the top of your particular arena, you need to first be able to sell yourself to your potential customers.
Think about it. Would you rather do business with a person who smiles and comes across as friendly or with one who snarls and ignores you? The first impression a potential customer receives is from you. Make it a good one.
How can you accomplish this?
One: Become an expert source.
Two: Become a great communicator. Research shows communications skill is the top determinant for upward social and professional mobility.
Three: Draft a marketing plan for yourself annually, and review it quarterly. Include specific goals, strategies, action steps, and a timetable.
Four: Develop an 'elevator speech." Within the time that it takes an elevator to travel one floor - about 60-seconds - be able to deliver a succinct description of what you do, how you do it differently, and the benefit it provides.
Five: Build your Rolodex. Make new business contacts and stay in touch with them. Most people with powerful brands have powerful friends.
Six: Balance your individual style with clothing that will appeal to those you are trying to impress.
Seven: Learn good business and social etiquette. Buy elegant personal stationery and send hand-written notes.
Eight: Give something back. Giving your time, talent, and money to charitable causes is a brand-builder especially when it complements your brand strategy. Find a cause you are passionate about.
Your personal brand is one of your greatest business assets. Put as much time and effort into it as you do in branding your product. In the end, if you can't sell yourself, you'll find it nearly impossible to sell your product.
- Become an Expert at Something
Establishing yourself as an expert in your field will help you gain both recognition and respect. Luckily, that recognition and respect transfers directly to your company. If people trust that you truly know what you are talking about, they will feel good about investing in your product.
A website is the best place to start. Build a professional looking site with sound and informative content and you'll have a source of expert information to direct customers to. Remember that it is okay to give away some of your precious knowledge free of charge. Offer the customer something useful up front and they will label you as a legitimate source to go to for whatever your company may offer.
Article marketing is an especially effective method to achieve that expert status because it gives you the ability to distribute a small number of articles to a huge number of content-rich sites. The more places your name pops up, the more people will be exposed to your site and product.
Another way to show your expertise is through online forums and blogs. This is a bit more casual than article writing. It allows you to remain in the first person and talk candidly with interested web surfers. The conversational tone used in such settings will put many potential customers at ease.
Not only will they view you as an expert, they'll also feel connected to you as a real human being. Also, such places give customers the opportunity to ask questions and give you the opportunity to back up your product in the face of criticism.
Find the right places to gain recognition. Put yourself out there and command respect through that exposure. Highlight your achievements and successes. Branding yourself as an expert is all about getting other people to recognize something about you that you already know.
December 09, 2008
- Researching a Franchise Opportunity
If you have ever wanted to open up your own store but simply don't have the talent or the patience to do so, one of the things that you might consider is opening up a franchise of a company where you're living.
Chances are that you have been thinking about the lack of businesses or the needs of the consumer in your area that are not fulfilled right now, which is one reason that makes owning a franchise such a tempting opportunity. Although there are plenty of risks associated with owning a franchise, if you are not accustomed to owning your own large store then there may be some questions, albeit a lot of questions, that you'll need help with in the beginning. In addition, if you are new to the whole franchise idea then some of your questions might be immediate. But there are plenty of places where you can go in order to find out more about a specific franchise opportunity. Here are some great resources, though, if you would like your franchise questions answered immediately:
An Independent Franchise
The first place that you could possibly direct your questions to is another franchise owner. Considering the fact that many franchise owners are not usually involved with the day-to-day operation of the franchise business itself then franchise owners may actually not mind speaking with you. These are the people, though, who are the most experienced with opening up their own franchises and can easily guide you and inform you with the correct information so that decisions will be easier. Some independent franchise owners may even tell you about whether or not owning a franchise is a profitable venture, but chances are that many times they will endorse the opportunity!
Authority Resources
Another place to go to if you want to know more about that Taco Bell or Wendy's Hamburgers franchise opportunity is the Entrepreneur magazine. The Entrepreneur magazine has both a print publication and an online version of their magazine that you can purchase. In addition, their website is filled with all sorts of good information about how to get started with franchises, the facts about how much money it takes to own a specific franchise you may be interested in, as well as the qualities and considerations that a prospective future franchise owner should make. In addition, though, the Entrepreneur resources will be able to give you the lowdown of virtually all the franchise opportunities in the United States. Entrepreneur is definitely a trusted resource for finding this type of franchise information.
Franchise Brokers
On the other hand another valuable resource that you may have at your disposal is a franchise broker. Franchise brokers are certain individuals that usually get paid a certain percentage of the startup fees that you'll have to pay, but they can be a valuable resource in the fact that they can give you all the secrets about a certain company and what many franchise owners' opinions might be of them!
All in all, there are plenty of places to go to in order to thoroughly research a franchise opportunity. Even though there are plenty of other places to start rather than with another franchise owner, Entrepreneur magazine, and franchise brokers, these places are definitely good sources of franchise information!
- The Best Franchise Companies
Many people would have thought that McDonald's or Burger King or some other similar type of fast food restaurant would make for a good franchise. Even though these types of businesses usually will pull in some sort of profit their first year, they weren't chosen for the best franchises of 2007.
In fact, you may actually be surprised at some of the companies that topped the list of Entrepreneur’s list of the Best Franchises for the 2007 year. If you're looking for the perfect franchise opportunity then you may want to take a look at this list for some possible business ideas!
The UPS Store
Even The UPS Store got some kudos from Entrepreneur magazine! The UPS Store is basically an office supply store where customers are able to purchase UPS products, boxes, as well as possibly drop off their boxes and packages for shipment. Perhaps this is the main reason that they were voted at the top of the list for the Best Franchises in 2007. In fact, though, The UPS Store only started to crop up after the beginning of the 21st Century! In a few short years this company, The UPS Store, actually had over 5,000 locations and Franchises worldwide! That is an amazing feat to pull off, but those who are in the business for The UPS Store may just realize the value of the products and services they're selling!
FASTSIGNS
Pulling in well over $500,000 per year this store may not seem like an obvious choice, but it is a franchise opportunity that many consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they simply cannot pass up! If you are wondering what exactly FASTSIGNS does, they create a whole line of products devoted to signs, labels, banners, displays, digital printing, as well as custom graphics. This franchise and company will even help you wrap your whole car in advertising for different companies. Many smart entrepreneurs have chosen this company to franchise for and it has been proven to be a smart choice!
Got Junk
Even though you thought junk removal probably would never make it to the top of the list for franchise opportunities, the company 1-800-Got-Junk? is actually a fast growing business opportunity throughout the whole country. Many people are taking this company up on their advantage within the current market. You know that fast food restaurant that you were considering franchising for? Perhaps your money would be even more well spent on a franchise such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK.
There are plenty of other great franchises throughout the world, but these are only a few of the ones that made the year 2007's best franchise list! The companies FASTSIGNS, The UPS Store, as well as the Got Junk business all three are excellent franchise opportunities that are formulas for success. But doing this type of research and finding out what type of franchises are great for a ground-floor business opportunity is very important to having a successful business and excelling with a company's brand name!
- The Many Types of Franchises
Owning your own business is a great accomplishment for virtually everyone who has ever tried to succeed in business or marketing. However, if you don't think you're intelligent enough or don't even want to attempt to start your own company from the ground up then one option that you always have is to start out with a franchised company.
There are plenty of great things about starting with a franchise of a popular company, but the best thing about it is that you will receive all the help you need if your franchise begins to slip and fail. Furthermore, chances are that you'll receive adequate training before you even start with a franchise so that you'll actually be setup for a long successful road ahead.
Whatever the case, though, franchises are an excellent way to have your own business and to actually own it. However, if you have ever thought about owning a franchise then probably the first thing that popped into your mind was how you would be able to pay for it. On the contrary, though, your first thought should not be about how you'll pay for the franchise, but should be about what type of franchise you want to start. Here are a few suggestions of the franchises one can easily get a hold of in the corporate business world.
Fast Food Restaurants
There is probably always going to be an empty spot somewhere throughout the country or the world where a fast food restaurant will be able to fit. One of the things that make fast food restaurant franchise opportunities a great idea is the fact that you are quickly able to turn a profit. Even though it may not be in the first year of owning the franchise (even though it very well could be in the first year) chances are that you won't have to go that far over the first year in order to realize a profit. Some of the most successful franchises that you probably already could have guessed are McDonald's Restaurant and Wendy's fast food restaurant.
Office Supply Franchises
One interesting type of franchise that will allow you to have success is an office supply store. Even though you don't have to acquire a large office supply store like Staples to be successful, there are plenty of smaller supply stores that specialize in office things, business stationary, and small pieces of furniture like computer desks and chairs. Office supply stores are definitely needed throughout the country which is why it makes them a great franchise opportunity!
On the other hand, there are plenty of other franchise companies to get involved with if you don't want to start up your own fast food restaurant or office supply store. A donut store franchise, such as one that is purchased from Dunkin' Donuts or Krispy Kreme, can also be successful since many people already love the morning donut products that they offer! All in all, though, there are plenty of franchise opportunities to choose from, but it just takes a little bit of homework to determine which will be successful!
December 05, 2008
- Why Franchises are Good Investments
There are many different types of business individuals throughout the world, but one type of person that would take up a franchise as their own and succeed at it
someone who has an entrepreneurial type of attitude. There are many reasons for investing in a franchise, but an individual who is a real go-getter and is able to get things done will realize the true value of owning a franchise. Many people throughout the world have realized that franchises are good investments to take advantage of and if you have never considered it until now then perhaps it is time to put your business thinking cap on. Here are some reasons why so many people consider franchises good investments:
Just Plug It In!
Essentially, all you have to do to a franchise is just plug it in. In other words, though, the old phrase of "if you build it then they will come," is certainly true in the view of the franchise-owning individual. Since the name of the franchise is a store that is usually pretty much known throughout the nation, chances are that people will be instantly attracted to the business. For example, if you build a franchise of Starbuck's next to an apartment complex and it is closer to them than any other Starbucks around then chances are that you'll be in luck and have chosen a good spot for the franchise.
Copyright Ownership
Another great thing about owning a franchise is that you have the ability to use the copyright of the original company. Of course franchise owners won't want to do anything to damage the reputation of course, especially since the franchise is trying to succeed, but being able to advertise that you own a part of the company is a great accomplishment for many people! Franchise owners have the ability to advertise coupons in the company's name, give out discounts, as well as many other benefits that come along with owning a franchise package! Furthermore, many of the customers won’t even know that you’re a franchise of the company but will treat your store as if it was the company store itself!
Possibility of Profit in the First Year
The franchise that you build will most definitely make some sort of profit in it's life, but a franchise usually has the possibility of producing a profit or profit margin within the first year! The reason for this is mainly that it usually doesn't cost as much to start a franchise as it does to build a business or company from scratch. Those who are starting a franchise, though, will be able to realize profit a lot sooner than they thought!
All of these ideas are the exact reasons why franchises are a good investment! Of course, there are plenty of other reasons why it’s a good investment to get started with a franchise but there are too many to name here. If you have ever thought of owning a franchise then hopefully the information presented here provided the nudge you need to get started!
- What is a Franchise?
There are many different types of business opportunities but one of the opportunities that many people seize on a regular basis is the chance to create a genuine revenue stream by owning part of the company. These are actually most always called owning stock in the company, but there is also another way to look at this scenario as well. If you have ever wondered exactly what a franchise is, but have never really had the opportunity to explore everything that went along with it, here is the perfect chance to learn about everything you wanted to know about starting a franchise!
The Franchise Experience
What exactly is a franchise, though? Simply put, a franchise is an extension of another company; they use the same signs, advertising methods, products, and services of the company that it was derived from. Virtually any type of business is able to be franchised if the terms are set forth in the company contract. For example, restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and even Wendy’s have the ability to be franchised. Other stores, such as Starbucks, specialty retail stores, as well as plenty of other restaurants and stores have the ability to create a franchise of themselves. In other words, franchises are essentially clones of the company, but the franchise owner is able to make separate decisions apart from the company itself.
Owning a franchise, though, shouldn't be confused with owning an actual store of the business. Depending on what the franchise is and where it is located, one might have more luck owning an actual store of the business than he or she would with owning a franchise! However, that issue is debatable, but a franchise owner is able to experience all of the same situations as the company owners are.
Even though the company that had a franchise created of themselves still has some control over the franchise itself, such as the specific foods that are used if the franchise is a restaurant, there are some decisions that the franchise owner can make that will have no impact on the company as a whole. For example, franchise owners are typically allowed to change the seating style in his or her restaurant or store, as well as the prices of the products themselves. In certain cases, certain aspects about the products can also be changed with the consent of the company. If you own a franchise, though, the best thing to do would be to contact the company itself to make sure you are allowed to make changes without negating the whole contract!
All in all, franchises are great experiences to have and there are all sorts of benefits one can enjoy from owning one. They are definitely great opportunities to take advantage of if you have the capital to get started! Franchises are essentially clones of another company, and in this way franchise owners are able to make most of the decisions and experience the whole business on their own!
